Packaging and dispensing systems for commonly-known adhesive bandages are known in the art and described below. Adhesive bandages, commonly called finger bandages, strip bandages, and first-aid bandages, are well known in the prior art. Commercially available adhesive bandages such as the Band-Aid™ brand bandages are for the most part individually packaged. The most widely used packaging means comprises outer wrappers which must be stripped apart to remove the bandage. The bandage typically consists of a backing on which an adhesive layer is applied to one side, and on which a sterile pad suitable for covering wounds is centrally placed. Two removable liners are placed upon the adhesive-coated side of the backing (or adhesive-backed flexible strip) covering both the pad and the adhesive layer.
Typical prior art adhesive bandages and wrappers require one to open an envelope or package containing the bandage, remove the bandage, peel off the removable liners to expose the adhesive layer and pad and then apply the bandage to the body. Such packaging, however, has certain disadvantages, chief of which are: (a) the possibility of touching the sterile pad before application, which may result in loss of sterility; (b) awkwardness and difficulty in applying the bandage to the body, especially with one hand; (c) having the adhesive surface stick to itself while in the process of applying the bandage to the body, thus requiring either the removal of the bandage and an additional application attempt or discarding the bandage entirely and starting the entire process over with a new bandage; and (d) having to dispose of individual wrapping components, which typically consist of the two removable liners and one or two pieces of outer wrapping.
These disadvantages are exacerbated by the conditions under which bandages are often applied. For example, opening of the package is often done under urgent conditions, which increases the likelihood that the bandage will accidentally fall out of the outer wrapper, resulting in loss of sterility of the bandage.
While some prior designs have simplified the process of application of the bandage, they have several disadvantages. One such prior art approach described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,182,449, to Kozlow, entitled “Adhesive bandage and package” discloses a bandage wherein the user is required to place his fingers near the sterile pad to remove the lining, thus increasing the likelihood of inadvertently touching and contaminating the sterile pad.
There have been other attempts to improve the bandage dispensing and application process, such as by folding the bandage over itself and providing for an automatic removal of the liner, as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,753 to Etheredge, entitled “Finger bandage package and dispenser.” While this design does provide for removal of the bandage and liner, it requires skill in application, as the opened package is cumbersome and typically requires the use of both hands during application of the bandage. Additionally, as the package is folded over itself, it is difficult for the user to determine the size of the bandage contained therein before the package is opened and the bandage unfolded.
Various adhesive bandage dispensing package systems have been described that aid the user in removing the bandage from the package or device with a single hand. One such system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,477, to Etheredge, et al., entitled “Package or adhesive dressing,” which discloses an adhesive bandage dispensing package wherein the adhesive side of the bandage is placed against a continuous carrier strip. One segment (i.e. the trailing edge of the adhesive-coated side of the bandage) is in direct contact with the release-coated continuous carrier strip, while the opposite segment (i.e., the leading adhesive segment) is covered by a release sheet which facilitates removal of the bandage from the continuous carrier strip, but is not otherwise secured to it.
Disadvantages of this design include bulkiness, the possibility of jamming caused by the bandages becoming stuck within the outer containing package as the bandages pass through the slit, and contamination of the bandage and pad caused by the user's touching the pad during removal of the release liner. Additionally, since the design does not enclose each individual bandage within a sealed envelope, the likelihood that the bandage will become contaminated before use is increased. Furthermore, the design does not allow for single bandages to be temporarily stored for application at a later time.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,586, to Taulbee, et al., entitled “Adhesive Bandage Dispensing Device and Associated Method,” discloses an adhesive bandage dispensing system in which an adhesive bandage is placed between an upper and lower continuous strip. The adhesive side of the bandage is mounted facing downward on the continuous strip and has a releasable liner attached to one segment of the adhesive-coated side of the bandage, which facilitates removal of the bandage from the continuous strip. Additionally, the dispensing system includes a slicer and other components which increase the cost and size of the unit and require one to become familiar with the operation of the system before use. Other disadvantages include the likely contamination of the bandage and pad during the application process, jamming of the unit, and increased environmental waste when the unit is disposed of.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,835,992, to Adams, entitled “Bandage Dispensing Package,” discloses a bandage dispensing system using a continuous carrier strip that is rolled or folded upon itself. Bandages are attached to the continuous carrier strip by placing the adhesive surface of the bandages upon the continuous carrier strip. This design requires a carrier strip that is made from a material having the desired release characteristics and that is able to form a side seal in order to form a secure packaging element for a multitude of sterile bandages. Therefore, this design suffers from increased cost, non-standardized operation which requires the user to become familiar with the operation of the system, increased size caused by forming the continuous carrier strip into a roll, and increased likelihood of contamination if the continuous carrier strip roll is dropped, as well as an increased likelihood of contamination during application.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,078, to Turngren, et al., entitled “Sterile Adhesive Bandage and Associated Methods,” discloses a sterile system for delivery of an adhesive strip or bandage using a single hand. In general, the patent discloses a flexible strip, at least one pull tab, and an optional wound pad sandwiched between a carrier member and a release backing. The invention may also have an optional blocking member. The adhesive strip is removed from the release backing and remains attached to the pull-tab and full-length carrier strip until the last step of the application process. Disadvantages of this system include difficulty of application and high manufacturing costs. Moreover, as the full-length carrier member may confuse users during application as to which side must be pulled first, it is possible that the user will inadvertently destroy the bandage before he has completed the process of applying it. Furthermore, the full carrier member is larger than the adhesive strip and therefore may complicate handling and positioning of the adhesive strip upon the desired object. In addition, some form of indicia may be needed to help the user identify the proper sequence of pulling on the tabs. Further, one end of the full-length carrier sheet may become bonded to the adhesive on the opposite end of the adhesive strip or bandage, which may result in the destruction of the adhesive strip or bandage before application is complete. Furthermore, as an opaque full-length carrier sheet would conceal the bandage located on its underside, the carrier sheet should be made of transparent materials, which may increase manufacturing costs. Another disadvantage resulting from the separation of the carrier sheet at an edge (such as the leading edge) of the adhesive strip is the difficulty in separating the carrier sheet and/or the optional blocking member from the adhesive strip or bandage member without separating the adhesive strip or bandage from application surfaces, especially low cohesion surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,689, to Frank, entitled “Dispensing Package for Adhesive-Backed Articles,” discloses an adhesive-backed article dispensing system suitable for dispensing bandages. This design uses a support layer to remove the article or bandage from the backing layer. The process of applying the article or bandage to the wound, however, is cumbersome because the support layer, which is longer and wider than the bandage itself, remains attached to or dangles from the bandage while the bandage is being applied. Thus, when applying the bandage to the wound, especially in difficult-to-reach areas of the fingers or toes, one or both support strips or sheets obscure the user's view of the wound and get in the way as the user attempts to place the bandage on the wound. Therefore, the user might not precisely place the bandage upon the wound, resulting in further injury when the bandage adhesive (rather than the gauze) is placed on the wound, or contamination of the wound caused by the gauze not being placed directly over the wound. Other disadvantages include the possibility of destruction of the bandage as a result of the user's attempt to remove and reapply a misplaced bandage.
With the advent of so called “thin-film” bandages and wound dressings (also known as “Transparent film dressings”) there has developed a need to provide sufficient rigidity to the adhesive strip or bandage using a carrier strip, also referred to as a carrier member, outer frame, blocking member, frame style carrier or other means, until the bandage is successfully applied to the desired object. The carrier strip also prevents the thin-film bandage from stretching excessively when the bandage is removed from the package. One commonly used design to impart rigidity to the thin-film strip or bandage is the partial carrier (or frame-style carrier), which is essentially a ring-like structure removably attached to the strip. This design is used in commercially available bandages such as 3M™ NEXCARE™ WATERPROOF BANDAGES. This design, however, requires that the partial carrier be removed upon application of the bandage. Many users, especially those unfamiliar with the design, tend to pull the carrier strip off the bandage before the bandage is removed from the release liner attached to the lower sheet of the package, thus destroying the bandage. Additionally, users often pull the carrier strip off the bandage at the wrong location, and/or try to pull the carrier strip off in the wrong direction, before or after application of the bandage, both of which result in destruction of the bandage. Additionally, this design has the drawback of requiring the user to pull off the carrier sheet after the bandage is applied to the desired object.
Another known thin-film type bandage is the commercially available 3M™ TEGADERM™ TRANSPARENT DRESSING. This bandage uses a frame style carrier and for the most part is similar to the 3M™ NEXCARE™ bandage. One significant difference is that some TEGADERM™ products have a “window” that must be removed before the bandage is applied to a desired surface. This design has the drawback of requiring the user to pull off the “window” section before the bandage is applied to the desired object.
Another known thin-film bandage is the ADVANCED CURAD™ AQUA-PROTEC™ bandage distributed by FUTURO Inc., which uses a full carrier sheet which superposes the adhesive strip or bandage. In this bandage, the carrier sheet is releasably attached to the adhesive strip or bandage so that it can be removed by pulling on an attached pull tab (also called a blue flap) once the adhesive strip or bandage is applied to the desired object. A disadvantage, however, is that many users, especially those unfamiliar with the operation of the design, remove the full-length carrier sheet before applying the bandage, resulting in the destruction of the bandage or try to remove the carrier sheet by pulling on a corner of the bandage thereby inadvertently pulling the bandage off the desired object. Moreover, many users, while trying to determine how to remove the carrier sheet, attempt to pull some part of the bandage, but not knowing what or where to pull, they attempt to grasp the pull tab at the interior edge rather than the exterior edge and not being able to grasp it at that point, they give up and do not remove the carrier sheet and therefore do not benefit from the use of the thin-film materials.
Thus, there is a need for an easy to use one-handed bandage package and dispensing system that is capable of dispensing bandages, adhesive strips, flexible strips, or other elements from a dispenser that avoids the problems and disadvantages of prior art systems.